Another Friday is upon us. After another week of digital trials and tribulations. Here’s a rundown of what the beautiful rogues gallery of couriers and posties has cobbed at us this week.
Garmin Venu 2 Plus
- Price: £399.00
- From: garmin.com
The last Garmin techno-timepiece we had – the Garmin Fenix Pro Solar – almost broke the internet. Well, the internet corner that we exist in. What does this Venu 2 Plus do?
Phone calls from your wrist (sounds a bit dodgy). Hands-free messaging (again, sounds dodgy). Health Snapshot. Body Battery monitoring. Pulse OX Sensor. Stress tracking. Women’s Health tracking. Hydration tracking. Respiration tracking. Sleep scoring (the new Strava?). Heart rate. Mindful breathing. Fitness age.
Yes, but does it have Nokia Snake?
Maxxis Shorty Gen 2
- Price: £84.99
- From: freewheel.co.uk
We’ve got a couple of one of the most in-demand tyres of winter 2021/22. The new Shorty! Currently only seemingly available in full-grrr DH casing MaxxGrip flavour. Our excitement is slightly tempered by the RRP reality that these tyres appear to cost over eighty quid.
Eighty four quid. Wowsers.
We should be able to ride down – and stay upright – on everything, everywhere at that price, right? We shall see. ‘Thankfully’ the weather looks like it’s very Shorty for the next few days here in the South Pennines.
Restrap Tyre Boot Kit
- Price: £8.99
- From: restrap.co.uk
Something of a niche products but we like a niche product now and then. The kit features eight varied cuts of thin, durable and tear-resistant Hypalon, specifically designed for covering sidewall and tread tears on any tubed tyre.
This very orange kit is easily spotted in the dark depths of a pack, making it easier to find when you need it most. The orange colour is also intended for easily locate the boot inside a damaged tyre.
Apparently Olympic gold medallist Alistair Brownlee used one of these kits to mend a tyre failure that would otherwise have ended his race.
Crank Bros Icon MTB Socks & M20 Multi-Tool
- Price: £13.99 (socks), £39.99 (multi-tool)
- From: crankbrothers.com
Socks. Yeah! Available in a couple of sizes: 39-41 and 42-47. In case you’re interested, “compression fit, performance ribbing, enhanced ventilation and a reduced friction profile.” They still look a bit too short for my high-up-the-calf tastes.
The M20 multi-tool features, you guessed it, twenty tools. Tyre plug tool, tyre plugs, valve core removal tool, rotor straightener, chain tool, 2/2.5/3/4/5/6/8mm Allen keys, Phillips 1/2, flathead, 0/1/2 spoke keys, T10 and T25. It’s 89mm long and weighs around 200g. Lifetime warranty is nice.
Pile o’ Schwalbe
- Price: £65.00 each
- From: schwalbe.com
Tyres is crazy costly init? The only thing that prevents us from storming the tyre factories with flaming pitchforks (can you have a flaming pitchfork?) is that a lot of modern mountain bike tyres are genuinely flipping amazing.
We’re not overly familiar with the newish Big Betty or the revamped (again) Nobby Nics, but… the Magic Mary. Ohh… the Magic Mary. A great tyre that you can leave on the front of your bike for 365 days a year and not flounder.
The Nobby Nic looks like a diet Mary. Could be useful. The Big Betty looks like an extremely capable paddle-tastic rear tyre.
Another secret bike
- Price: £4,399 IIRC
- From: The Future
This sneaky peaky behaviour is bound to bite us in the arse at some point but until then…
Can you tell what it is yet?
Maybe try some Blade Runner-style zooming in and enhancing on the reflections in the spanners in the background. Good luck!
Santa Cruz Chameleon 29 R
- Price: £2,999
- From: santacruzbicycles.com
Santa Cruz mountain bikes have been like buses here at STW HQ 2022. You wait ages for one and then three turn up all at once. The three in question being the Santa Cruz Bronson (for mullet bike test in a future issue of the mag), the new Santa Cruz Heckler and finally this classic Chameleon.
This bike is currently underneath Mr AdH for a winter-spring thrashing. Will it look as pretty once he’s done with it?
Mark’s leg
- Price: ouch
- From: an out of control skier
Mark is currently on a not-snowboarding-anymore holiday in Canada. He now has a bust tibia(?)
Remember folks, when on the slopes: mirror, signal, manoeuvre.
The perfect stick
- Price: money can’t buy
- From: just over there
This is Amanda’s new favourite stick. It was ideal for propping up the twenty flat pedal shoes that she had to photograph for the next issue’s group test.
“When you just can’t get enough traction”
- Price: Prototype
- From: @outsidebrendan
Q: Is this for real?
A: No. Check the poster’s Insta bio. Still very amusing though.
Hackney GT Camo Lightweight Rain Jacket
- Price: £80.00
- From: hackneygt.com
We’ve just had this ‘camo lightweight weather jacket’ in from the ever-flamboyant characters at Hackney GT. It comes in seven sizes, from XS up to a XXXL. It’s a slim, road-style cut, so if in doubt, size up to prevent sausaging… (Chipps is wearing a Large).
Hackney GT says of it; “Essential cycling kit for all cycling gangs. Made from micro-weave fabric with DWR coating to provide wind and water repellency whilst being highly breathable and being only 70 gsm its very packable.”
Our ‘colour-enthusiast’ editor, Chipps, reckons this is a great looking jacket, though we’re not sure where the camo would let you disappear. A Lego factory, perhaps? Driving one of those multicolour Fiats? A Mondrian exhibit? Suggestions welcome.
This week’s #STWFGF winner
Tag us on the ‘Gram and win stuff!
Every week we running a competition over on Instagram to win a free subscription to Singletrackworld (or some other item of merchandise if you’re already a subscriber/member).
Simply tag your Instagram riding pics with #STWFGF and… that’s it.
We sift through the tagged candidates at the end of each week and pick a winner. The winning Insta pic gets proudly displayed in Fresh Goods Friday.
Congratulations go to Jim Gardiner for this week’s winning shot. Slide into our DMs on your dropbars and we’ll sort you out with your prize (translation: “send us a direct message on Instagram please”).
Thread of the Week
This week’s TOTW is the ‘Ghosts – do they exist?’ posting from johndoh.
We’re all off to fit our new rubbers. Something for the weekend indeed.
Peace. Out.
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